The Scales of Justice

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8545, 28 September 1907, Page 2

The Scales of Justice

CHAPTER XXXlX.—Continued. "I hear you say so," he said, "but it proves nothing. And, in my case, you could not possibly identify me with the robbery." "Oh, yes, we said Delamere curtly. "For instance, lam in a position to prove that you made three voyages to America in the Southern Star immediately before the robbery. You were probably studying the lie of the land. • Again, we know that you are very friendly With Madame Regnier, despite the fact that you did not know her on the Southern Star, and the same remark, applies to Beard and yourself. All that I can procure witnesses to testify to. Now, my brother found the missing bonds by a strange accident, j You may call it an accident, but I regard it as a direct intervention of Providence. The bonds fell into our hands, but Miss Cawdor did not know that. I mean, she did not know the nature of the papers, nor that they were the cause of Mr Doyle's mis- j fortunes. The great bulk of the documents my brother kept, placing one only in the box. This one Miss Cawdor handed over to Heard, feeling sure that she had lost the rest on her way home from an old servant's cottage. Miss Cawdor was carefully coached in her part; she was an unconscious instrument in our hands. Beard fell headlong into the trap; he went off at once to the woods/or the missing papers, and he found them." Cardrew listened with his heart beating painfully. He was getting afraid of this hard, cold man, who seemed to know everything. "Beard found the papers," Delamere resumed. "It would have been exceedingly odd if he had not done so, seeing that they were placed almost under his nose by James Marston. the poacher, for that very purpose. You are not going to deny that you know James Marston?" "I have known James Marston all my life," Cardrew said huskily, "though why he should take upon himself to interfere, seeing that his own past " "Never mind Marston's past. The fact remains that Marston has elected to be on the side of the angels. For the sake of Miss Flora Cameron, and for the sake of Mr Gilbert Doyle, who stood him in good stead in a critical moment, he has done this

thing. Beard found the papers, and almost before he had made his great' * discovery, Madame Regnier appeared on the scene. The whole of the conversation was overheard by Marston and Mr Doyle." "Doyle!" Cardrew cried. He had utterly forgotten himself for the moment. "Then Doyle has been hiding here all tnis time. If he dared to show himself " "He does dare to show himself," Gilbert put in coolly. "As a matter of fact, he has the honour of speaking to you at the present moment." Cardrew stared at the speaker open-mouthed. He could feel the close and cruel meshes of the ttet closing in upon him; lie knew that he was utterly in the power of these people. He rose and staggered across the room in the direction of the door. "1 am giddy," he said feebly, "I feel deadly sick. Let me go out into the open air. I promise that I will come back again." 'Certainly," Delamere replied. "The. room is hot—it is the lamp. Suppose you remove your overcoat ; you will find it so much cooler then." Carrew dropped into his seat again. He knew the worst now. "Go on, *uii put me out of my misery," he said. -"We will proceed, then," Delamere went on. "Madame Regnier nevef* trusted her ally; she refused to believe the story of the red box, and t'ie lost memory of the owner. She was not going to allow Beard to retain those papers any longer. She made a proposal that a certain messenger should convey the bonds to London, and there dispose of them to the kind of rascal who deals in that kind of property. I need not say, my good sir, that we had no very great difficulty 111 discovering who that messenger was to be. We heard that the messenger was to go over to Longtown Junction and catch the early morning train to London, Hence the fact that we waited outside Madame Kegnier's house till the messenger made his appearance. Need I say any more?" Cardrew made oncrlast fight for it. He turned savagely on the speaker. "Your action is quite unjustifiable," he said; "and I can promise you that you will {.ear more of this. It so happens that I was going to London by the early mail, in any case. If you think I have the stolen property on me " "We know you have," Delamere said curtly. "As a matter of fact, it is bulging out of your inner overcoat pocket at the present moment. That is why we kidnapped you and brought you here to-night. It is not the least use to bluster. Ycu are likely to stand in ti •> clock with the rest .if we wash 01.. hands of the affair ,-and leave it to tlx. police. You are .attempting 4 to dispose of stolen property, well knowing it to be stolen. W.e can easily identify you with the gang at the bottom of the whole business. Are you going to defy us or ask for our mercy?" • Cardrew broke down utterly and completely. His vivid imagination was at %'ork again. Pie saw himself in the dock; he could see the judge in his robes and hear the dreaded sentence of penal servitude. He would make an appeal to these people. " "I admit everything," he said. "I plead guilty to arranging the whole thing—in fact, I did everything except steal the bonds. I was not on'thfl Southern Star that par-'

By FEED M. WHITE,

[Published By Special Arrangement.] [All Eights Reserved.]

ticular trip, and therefore I did not see Mr Doyle. I knew that Madame Regnier had arranged with Beard to throw all the blame on Mr Doyle. That was to avert suspicion from her, because she had a fancy that one of the passengers knew her antecedents. Beard had always declared that he had lost the bonds, but he would never tell us why. Probably because he did not want Miss Cawdor bothered with the business. At that time I went to South Africa,and from thence to India. I wanted to try to lead a new life there, but I bad not the courage to do so." Cardrew stopped and covered his lace with his hands. He looked an abject picture of misery, so that Gilbert could not but feel sorry for him.

"I am glad to see you adopting this attitude," Delamere said, "because we shall perhaps be able to make it more easy for you. Give me the bonds."

Cardrew produced the papers from his pocket. He no longer looked defiant, rather he was like a dog suiting the commands of his master. Delamere proceeded to lock the securities away in a drawer. He seemed to be well pleased with the progress of affairs. His manner was less stern as he spoke to Cardrew again.

"There is one more thing to te done," he said. "And that is to give me the name and address of the man to whom you were going to dispose of the bonds. Now, do not prever!cate or shufSe, because I know all aboqt it. Give me the name of the man and where he lives. I want to know where Isaac Barry is to be found."'

"I suppose you really know that as, well as everything else," said Cardrew, with just a suggestion of bitterness in his tone. "Isaac Barry lives at 17, Gargozle Crescent, Bloomsbury. Do you want me to go with you and see him?" "No; you are going to send him a long telegram in the morning, and he is coming down here to see you instead. I shall find you a bed for the night."

, CHAPTER XL. A BLUE SKY. A little wriggling man with shifty eyes and a white, set face sat opposite to David Delamere and whined for mercy on account of his family. Beard stood with hii back to the fireplace, a smi'e of contempt on his face. Whatever happened, he was not likely to show his feelings. Cardrew was sullen and moody, Madame Regnier cold and distant. But there was a hard glitter in her eyes, and a suggestive movement of her fingers as ifshe wished she had a dagger in them so that she could plunge it into the heart of David Delamere. Altogether it was. an interesting group gathered together in the farmhouse parlour. The whole story had been told; there was no reply from the miscreants. "I have quite finished," David Delamere said. "You know the whole story and the way you have beon entrapped. By this time the missing bonds are in the hands of Scotland Yard, with a full account of this vile conspiracy. I like to have you to all here because it is a peculiar pleasure to me to feel that my journey to England has not been wasted. I had chosen another fate for Dr. Bernard Beard, but I have changed my mind. For him to be found out, for him to stand in the dock and hear that he is not likely to trouble society for some years to come is a far surer punishment than I could ever inflict upon him. I have finished. You are all free to go your own way, which, I should say is not likely to be far, seeing that the police are waiting outside for all of you. Now go!" Nobody spoke, nobody said a word, nothing could be heard but the sniffling whine of Mr Isaac Barry as he took up his hat. Outside it was , as David Delamere had foretold. An inspector of police with half a dozen constables stood in the porch. The inspector touched his cap, as he came forward.

"Madame Regnier," he said, "I arrest you on a charge of robbery and conspiracy. The same remark applies to you, Dr. Bernard Beard, and you, Captain Ronald Cardrew. Mr Barry, your capture will be reported in London. Mr Gilbert Doyle, I must ask you to come with me. Your release is only a matter of hours, but for the present the law regards you as a criminal recently escaped from Greystone Prison." (To be continued).